The other thing we do at Indy is make a reservation at a restaurant close by for 5:00 or so, that way we can eat real food for about the same price as a hotdog and drink and be done eating with plenty of time to get back to the stadium. From about 4:30 till 6:30 there is nothing going on to miss. I don't know if that would work in Dallas or not.

Dallas is terrible for this, if you're not in the parking lot before 6 you're going to park wayyy out, or more likely in overflow parking over by the Ballpark (baseball stadium).

The pits are outside the stadium a little ways but looking at the weather forecast it should be fairly pleasant this year, last couple of years it's been a cold blustery day outside on race day. We usually just catch a late lunch somewhere before going in and either skip dinner or eat late.

So basically you're just stuck wandering around inside for almost 2 hours with nothing going on. But once it starts it always seems well worth the wait!